I guess it has been about 10 years now that I have
been skateboarding, and about that long I have been
making stuff. Stuff, that is what I call it, Art is
too serious a word for me and the connotations it
brings cause me trouble. Taking things too seriously,
or not serious enough that has always been my problem.
Laughing when I shouldn't, or getting choked up over
something as trivial as a song, there are rules out
there - I never quite understood. Outside the rules,
that is what drew me to skateboarding, ...no fucking
rules. So when I started making stuff I didn't apply
the rules that teachers wanted to show me I just did
it. They are both the same to me, skateboarding and
making stuff, manipulations of other peoples
expectations. Here is a bench, sit on it, that is all
it is for. I don't think so. We as skateboarders are
creators of our own world, with "their" objects.
Stairs, rails, the walls , all of it altered
definitions. Have you ever thought about how different
you think, about how our world is so completely
different, yet the same objects appear in it. I know
it all might sound strange at first, but just listen.
When you pull into a new town or see a new building,
the mind of a skateboarder starts seeing
opportunities, options ..."look at that handrail, or
did you see that bank, pull over !" I see an object,
or image, I see beyond what it was created for and
manipulate it, alter it's meaning. It is all the same
to me, trying to open peoples eyes, trying to expand
definition. That is why I use found objects in my
stuff. There is a ton of stuff out there waiting,
rotting, find it, put it to use for you. I'll always
skate as long as my body allows me, I'll always make
stuff as long as my mind allows me. You may think that
my stuff is trash and doesn't take much talent and I
would have to agree. It was someone's trash, and it
didn't take much skill for me to alter it, so what is
your excuse? Go out there and manipulate this
stagnant world, make it yours, make stuff, skateboard.